Rossignol, a manufacturer of sporting goods like skis, snowboards, and other recreational gear have collaborated with PIQ, a renowned tech company to announce their latest product—the Hero Master. Popularly referred to as “smart skis” since their unveiling, the Hero Master has an AI-powered computer built into its planks with an LED display at the nose of each ski. This technology is designed to actively monitor movements by analyzing turns, speed, distance, and other data while the skier rides.
The Hero Master provides real time data displaying these statistics using the LED display, along with tracking the skier’s progress on its own cell phone app. PIQ uses onboard sensors and other algorithms to collect this information, along with an AI called GAIA, which was built using data gathered from thousands of athletes.
The Hero Master is the latest (and upgraded) product that Rossignol and PIQ have collaboratively released pertaining to skiing. Their previous venture was called the ROBOT, which was a monitoring device that separately attached to a pair of skis, and monitored the skier’s performance by sending data the device collected to a downloadable cell phone app. Unlike the Hero Master, its most fundamental differences with the ROBOT are skis having the AI technology built into the skis (instead of being an attachment), and the ability to display real time data instead of solely sending the information to an app.
While the Hero Master is currently just a prototype and in early stages of development, the final product appears to be geared towards professional skiers and enthusiasts. While no details have been released on pricing yet, it’s expected that the starting costs for the Hero Master will be in the thousands. Considering how the skis have the technology installed into the skis themselves (which cost hundreds on their own) and the AI systems can cost over $1000 on their own, it’s likely these skis won’t come cheap when they hit the market.
Filed Under: M2M (machine to machine)